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New Zealand register a narrow win over USA while the England vs Nigeria game was abandoned without a ball being bowled

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2025Australia and South Africa moved closer to the semi-finals of the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025 with dominant shows on the opening day of the Super Six stage.Australia registered a seven-wicket win over West Indies in Bangi in the morning fixture. After opting to bowl, Australia struck immediately and reduced West Indies to 7 for 3. West Indies never recovered from the early blow and kept losing wickets regularly. Fast bowlers Eleanor Larosa, Caoimhe Bray, and legspinner Tegan Williamson each picked up two wickets and eventually West Indies were all out for just 53 runs in 16.3 overs.Despite a brief rain delay, Australia reached the target in 10.5 overs, with captain Lucy Hamilton top-scoring with 28 runs off 29 balls. Larosa was named the Player of the Match for her figures of 2 for 6 in three overs.Ritu Singh’s 5 for 15 against New Zealand went in vain•ICC/Getty Images

New Zealand produced an 18-run win over USA at the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangi. In a low-scoring Super Six game, New Zealand were all out for 97 after they were put in to bat, thanks to offspinner Ritu Singh’s 5 for 15 in 3.5 overs. However, New Zealand’s collective bowling effort triggered the USA lower-order collapse as they went from 73 for 5 to 70 all out.For New Zealand, none of the batters converted their starts. There were only two noteworthy stands: a 32-run opening partnership between Kate Irwin and Emma McLeod and a 34-run stand between Hannah Francis (25 off 33) and Rishika Jaiswal (17 off 27) for the seventh wicket. Ritu accounted for three out of the top five batters and picked up two more wickets in the final over.In reply, USA lost opener Chetna Pagydyala for a first-ball duck in the second over, but Disha Dhingra held fort with a 24-ball 30. However, when she was dismissed in the seventh over off Anika Tauwhare, USA struggled to keep their innings going. Ritu also contributed 14 with the bat but was run-out in the 13th over. Jaiswal and Irwin starred with two wickets each to bundle USA out in the 18th over.Monalisa Legodi rattled Ireland with four wickets•ICC/Getty Images

South Africa continued to stay unbeaten in the tournament as they crushed Ireland in their rain-affected match in Kuching. The contest was reduced to 10-overs-a-side and Ireland, after opting bat first, kept losing wickets regularly from the second over and were all out for just 35 in 9.4 overs. Fast bowler Monalisa Legodi offspin all-rounder Kayla Reyneke were the star performers, picking up four and three wickets respectively.South Africa chased down the target in just 6.1 overs, but lost three wickets in the process. Captain Reyneke remained unbeaten on 16 to take the team home. With this win, South Africa topped the Group 2 with six points.The England vs Nigeria game was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain.

Young allrounder Tess Flintoff has been added to the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2023Australia allrounder Heather Graham has been ruled out of the ODI series against Ireland and the Hundred after she suffered a right calf strain.Cricket Australia (CA) added young uncapped pace-bowling allrounder Tess Flintoff to the squad for the three ODIs that begin at the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin on Sunday.Flintoff hogged the limelight in the WBBL last November when she smashed the record for the fastest half-century, off 16 balls, in the competition’s history for Melbourne Stars. Recently, she scored a 48-ball 70 at No. 7 for Australia A against England A in Loughborough.CA stated that Graham will remain with the team in Ireland to begin her rehabilitation before returning to Australia to continue this with Cricket Tasmania. Graham was supposed to play for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, which starts on August 1, after the tour of Ireland. In the 2022 edition, she played three matches and scored just 33 runs and picked up two wickets.Australia are coming off a 2-1 defeat in ODIs and T20Is against England, eventually drawing the Women’s Ashes in the multiformat series.

Legspinner signs three-year deal after finding opportunities limited at his boyhood county

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jun-2023Matt Parkinson will leave Lancashire at the end of the season to join Kent on a three-year-deal.The 26-year-old legspinner has found his opportunities limited at his boyhood county, despite starting the season with a five-wicket haul in the first round of this season’s County Championship against Surrey. He then played one match on loan at Durham before returning for Lancashire’s Vitality Blast campaign.Parkinson made his Test debut last summer as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach during the Lord’s Test against New Zealand but has since fallen down the pecking order for club and country. That remains the last of 12 international caps as other spin-bowling options, such as Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks, came to the fore over the winter.Parkinson’s travails were compounded when he was overlooked for the Hundred draft, despite taking 20 wickets for Manchester Originals across the first two seasons of the men’s competition. In the end, a move suited all parties, with the emergence of finger spinner Tom Hartley at Lancashire, who also offers greater value with the bat.Nevertheless, Parkinson still boasts exceptional first-class and Twenty20 records, with 151 dismissals at an average of 25.92 and 139 at 18.96 respectively.”The time is right for me to embrace a new challenge and environment,” said Parkinson in a Kent statement. “I’m so excited that this will be at Kent.”I’m proud of my record in the game so far & I believe my best years as a leg-spin bowler are ahead of me. I’ve heard very positive things about the squad and I’m looking forward to working with Matt Walker and the other coaches.”I promise my new team-mates and the Kent supporters that I will throw myself into this new challenge and I can’t wait to get down to Canterbury to get started.”I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the Lancs members for the support they have given to me during my time at Old Trafford. I thank my teammates for their friendship and wish them the best.”Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said: “Everyone at Kent is really excited that Matt has decided to join the club on a long-term contract.”To have a proven match-winning leg-spinner in our ranks will be a major boost to the squad. Matt is also a feisty competitor who will bring a lot to our dressing room. We look forward to welcoming him to Canterbury.”Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket Performance, said: “On behalf of everybody connected with Lancashire Cricket, I would like to thank Matt for all of his commitment and efforts since making his first-class debut in 2016, having progressed through our academy.”Matt has found first-team opportunities limited this season and we respect the decision that he has made to move on at the end of his contract, in order to seek a new challenge elsewhere. We would all like to wish Matt well for the next stage of his career at Canterbury.”It seems unlikely Parkinson will move on loan for the remainder of the season, as is usually the way with these sorts of deals. The fact Lancashire (seventh) and Kent (ninth) are separated by 20 points at the foot of Division One makes that an awkward proposition.

Mashrafe Mortaza described Bangladesh’s fielding as ‘lethargic’ after their 77-run loss to New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Dec-2016Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza described his team’s fielding as “lethargic” after their 77-run loss to New Zealand in the first ODI in Christchurch. New Zealand’s innings included three dropped catches but what stood out even more was the Bangladesh fielders’ lack of intensity in running towards the ball, coupled with misfields throughout the game.New Zealand ran a whopping 27 twos and three threes when they batted, with Tom Latham, who scored his second ODI ton, ensuring that the scoring did not stagnate even if boundaries were hard to come by. The Bangladesh captain reckoned that his team gave away at least 20 extra runs while fielding.”I thought we were lethargic in our fielding,” Mashrafe said. “It was pretty disappointing. It would have motivated the bowlers had we fielded a little better. They took a lot of twos and threes, which we could have checked. We wanted to restrict them within 280 to 300, and, even if we had lost early wickets, we could have made a game out of that sort of target.”

On Mushfiqur’s fitness…

Mashrafe Mortaza said that Mushfiqur Rahim will have a scan on his left hamstring on Tuesday, after 48 hours of observation, before determining the next course of action. Mushfiqur pulled his hamstring while diving to complete a single off Mitchell Santner. He later retired hurt on 42.

Mashrafe said his bowlers also bowled too short, particularly at New Zealand’s top scorer Latham and Colin Munro, who made 87 off 61 balls. Both batsmen hit four sixes each, most of them pulled towards midwicket and square leg.”Latham and Munro took the game away from us. They handled the bowlers really well, and all the credit goes to these two batsmen. But I think we bowled too many short balls to him.”New Zealand’s short balls were head height, while we could bowl up to chest height which was easier for them to play shots. I think we should have adjusted it earlier, but we still have two matches left.”Despite so many errors in the field and a poor start with the bat, Mashrafe said that he still hoped for a tighter chase, banking on Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim.”The dismissals of Shakib and Sabbir set us back on a good batting track,” Mashrafe said. “At one stage we needed a T20-type chase, but Mushfiqur got injured. We could have pushed them further in the latter overs.”

Royals’ opening pair has been in red-hot form, but they come up against a Titans attack that has been bossing the powerplay. Who will come out on top?

Sreshth Shah15-Apr-20235:30

Bishop: Titans should bowl Rashid to Buttler straight away

Big Picture – Rematch of the IPL 2022 final

Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals meet for the first time this season, following wins that should’ve been more clinical than they were. Rahul Tewatia’s scoop off Sam Curran gave a nervy Titans points against Punjab Kings while Sandeep Sharma held his nerve to clinch victory against MS Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings. They’d both want to be more ruthless on Sunday.Royals have had all their success setting sizeable totals and defending them. Against Super Kings, they became the first team to successfully defend a sub-190 score, earning their third bat-first win in four games. Titans meanwhile have put together chases in a calculative manner, with a deep batting line-up, and have lost just once chasing in 12 games since the start of IPL 2022.Rashid Khan could play a big role. Jos Buttler (strike rate 69 and four dismissals in 11 innings), Sanju Samson (strike rate 98) and Shimron Hetmyer (four dismissals) struggle against him. But Titans are not wholly dependent on Rashid either. Since the start of IPL 2022, no team has taken more powerplay wickets (35) than Titans with Mohammed Shami and Alzarri Joseph proving difficult to handle this year too. Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar and David Miller have shown form as well.Royals will want their openers to set the tone. No pair this season has scored more runs in partnership quicker (194 runs at a strike rate of 202) or hit more powerplay boundaries than Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal (19 apiece). They also do exceedingly well against spinners, averaging 72 runs per wicket, the best (by far) among the 10 teams. Their experienced bowling has been exceptional too. R Ashwin (6.4) and Trent Boult (7.3) are among the tidiest bowlers in terms of economy this season while Yuzvendra Chahal (10 wickets) is an early purple cap contender.The rematch of the IPL 2022 final promises to be a high-quality affair between in-form teams. The perfect way to end week two of IPL 2023.

Form guide (most recent match first)

Titans: WLWW
Royals: WWLW

Team news – All eyes on Trent Boult

Boult was rested due to a “small niggle” in their last game. If he returns, then fellow pacer Kuldeep Sen gets benched (and perhaps Adam Zampa makes way on the overseas roster).Titans have no injury concerns.

Toss and Impact Player strategy

Based on who bats and who bowls, Dhruv Jurel and Yuzvendra Chahal are likely to be the Impact Player swaps for Royals. Titans could use Josh Little and Vijay Shankar similarly.Gujarat Titans
Bat-first XI (possible): 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Hardik Pandya, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Alzarri Joseph.Bowl-first XI (possible): 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Hardik Pandya, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Mohammed Shami, 8 Josh Little, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Alzarri Joseph.Rajasthan Royals
Bat-first XI (possible): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Devdutt Padikkal/Riyan Parag, 4 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Dhruv Jurel, 7 Jason Holder, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Sandeep Sharma, 10 Trent Boult/Adam Zampa, 11 Kuldeep Sen.Bowl-first XI (possible): 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Jason Holder, 6 Devdutt Padikkal/Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Sandeep Sharma, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Trent Boult/Adam Zampa, 11 Kuldeep Sen.

Pitch and conditions

Since IPL 2021, only twice in nine occasions has a team successfully defended in Ahmedabad. The average first-innings winning score in this period is 175.Sunday evening will be hot, with temperatures around 35 degrees C.

Stats that matter

• Shubman Gill is not fluent against Boult or Chahal. He has a strike rate of 98 against the pacer and 104 against the spinner.
• Sanju Samson enjoys facing Mohammed Shami: scoring 54 runs in 28 balls with only one dismissal.
• Shimron Hetmyer has faced Shami five times in T20s. He’s been dismissed by Shami on four of those occasions.
• Hardik Pandya has been out for single digits in all his three innings this season.
• David Miller has been among the best IPL chasers recently. Since the start of IPL 2022, he has been out only twice in 11 innings in a chase. He averages 184 with a strike rate of 151 batting second in that period.

Alastair Cook, the England captain, believes that any player involved in match-fixing should be banned for life but has no problem with the likelihood of facing Mohammad Amir again

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's08-Jun-2016Alastair Cook, the England captain, believes that any player involved in match-fixing should be banned for life. However, he has no problem with the likelihood of facing Mohammad Amir again, because he served the punishment handed down to him.Amir was given a six-month jail sentence for his part in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal at Lord’s, of which he served six in a Young Offenders Institute, as well as a five-year ban from cricket which elapsed last year. He has since returned to Pakistan’s one-day and T20 sides and earlier this week was named in Pakistan’s Test squad for the England tour.Subject to final confirmation of a visa being granted, he is set to return to the Test format on the ground where he committed the crime.Cook was part of the England team involved in the 2010 Lord’s Test when Amir, along with Mohammad Asif and captain Salman Butt, were caught in the sting accepting money to bowl no-balls on demand.”If you are caught match-fixing you should be banned for life,” Cook said ahead of the final Test against Sri Lanka. “The punishment should be that hard because we have to protect the integrity of the game.”That’s not to say Amir shouldn’t come back, because the rules were different, but from my point of view the punishment should be harsh enough to deter people from doing it – but that’s if I had any say.”Amir has served his time, he was punished for what he did and quite rightly so because we have to protect the integrity of the game, but I have no problems in playing against him at all.”Cook stressed that it was vital the public could believe what they were watching. “We need to be playing a game of cricket that when things are happening it is because that was sport is,” he said. “There are 22 people, 24 if you include the umpires, doing it to the best of their ability. You don’t want something in the back of your mind saying that doesn’t feel right. That’s not what sport is about. It’s two teams trying their best to win and there aren’t any other motives. That’s what the public deserve.”Stuart Broad, who struck his career-best 169 in the 2010 Test at Lord’s, has previously said that he would also have no issue facing Amir again although Cook added that the team had not collectively spoken about the situation.The first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s begins on July 14.

The BCCI has submitted an affidavit with the Supreme Court saying that 12 state associations have transferred funds received from the board between September 26 and October 1, 2016 to a term deposit

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2016The BCCI has submitted an affidavit with the Supreme Court saying that 12 state associations have transferred funds received from the board between September 26 and October 1, 2016, to a term deposit with a bank and will not utilise those amounts without further instructions from the court. Such an undertaking fulfils one of the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court in its interim order on October 7.The associations of Andhra, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Punjab, Saurashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were those that sent letters and supporting documents to the BCCI saying they had set aside the amounts ranging from INR 16 crore to INR 19 crore each.The BCCI’s affidavit, dated October 24, was signed by its general manager, administration and game development, Ratnakar Shetty.On October 7, the Supreme Court was told during a hearing that the BCCI had disbursed “substantial sums” to state associations before putting in place a disbursement policy, which was one of the Lodha Committee recommendations the board had to adopt by September 30.The total amount in question was INR 2500 crore, which the BCCI had received as compensation from the broadcaster on account of termination of the Champions League T20, which was discontinued in 2015.The court then directed the state associations not to use the amounts received, and told the BCCI that no further money should be given unless the state association passed a resolution to implement the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.After a subsequent hearing on October 21, the states were told they had until December 3 to provide an affidavit stating their willingness to comply with the Lodha Committee’s recommendations.

Pakistan battled through an absorbing third day, but defeat is only a matter of time

The Report by Andrew Miller05-Jan-2019At the fourth time of asking, Pakistan’s batsmen found the grit, resolve and flair required to compete with a pumped-up South African attack in their own conditions. But, despite a fine century stand between Asad Shafiq and Shan Masood, and a doughty 72 from Babar Azam, their opponents could not be denied forever, as South Africa’s pace quartet closed ranks in the evening session to put a crushing victory beyond doubt.By the close, Pakistan had at least staved off the prospect of an innings defeat, with Babar’s hard-fought half-century providing the lower-order with backbone as Dale Steyn in particular rolled back the years in a venomous short-pitched onslaught on any tailender who strayed into his sights. But, with a target of 41 when play resumes on day four, a swift kill and a 2-0 series win is surely a formality.In fact, the match might yet have been wrapped up this evening, but for some farcical scenes in the closing overs of the day. With a lead of 25, and the prospect of an extra half-hour for South Africa to gallop to the finish, Vernon Philander looked to have finished the innings when Mohammad Abbas slogged to mid-off. But with the players already sprinting from the field – not least Quinton de Kock, who had clearly been primed to give it some humpty as a pinch-hitter – replays showed that Philander had overstepped.Back came South Africa’s fielders – de Kock still pulling his gloves back on with a look of misery on his face – whereupon Shaheen Afridi served up another over of mayhem, mowing 12 vital runs off Steyn, including a top-edged four, a straight six, a dropped catch and a thump on the helmet. By the time his fun was eventually ended to give Kagiso Rabada his fourth wicket of the innings, the moment had passed, and de Kock decided that a 20-minute timeframe in which to slap his side to victory was too tight an ask, and the umpires said that was that.The scenes in those closing overs epitomised an engrossing day’s play, and one in which Pakistan actually made much of the running. This came principally through Shafiq and Masood’s enterprising third-wicket stand of 132 – their team’s first three-figure partnership of the series – and so well did they play that, for as long as it lasted, a Headingley or Kolkata-style miracle could not be entirely ruled out. This is Pakistan after all, the team that is never more dangerous than when they have been completely written off.And that was pretty much the situation when Shafiq and Masood came together at 27 for 2 in the 11th over of Pakistan’s second innings, following the dismissal of Azhar Ali to a shooter from Rabada that pinned him plumb on the front pad for 6. In the first hour of the morning, South Africa’s tail had biffed a quick 49 runs to take their lead to a daunting 254, and that surely seemed enough to see off a side that had not passed 200 in any of its previous three innings of the series.But Masood and Shafiq had other ideas. Masood had been promoted to open in place of the misfiring Fakhar Zaman after making an attractive 44 in the first innings, and responded with another unruffled performance that was at odds with the skittish efforts around him. But it was Shafiq’s injection of intent after the lunch break that turned Pakistan’s innings from one of dour survival to something approaching a genuine counterattack.Shafiq had to ride his luck early on, with both Philander and Duanne Olivier finding awkward lift from a good length to threaten his gloves and ribs. But, having laced a brace of enterprising cuts for four through backward point, his innings went into overdrive after taking on an Olivier bouncer, and top-edging a six over fine leg.Suddenly, all short balls were being treated as an opportunity for runs, and with South Africa maintaining their attacking fields with a big deficit still to be written off, there were plenty of gaps to be exploited. At the close of the second day, Mickey Arthur had made some damning comments about the state of the pitches for this series, but Shafiq’s shift in mindset seemed more than enough to transcend the apparent demons, as he rattled through to a 56-ball half-century.At the other end, Masood grew in stature as the partnership progressed. He had the closest shave of the innings when, on 24, he successfully overturned an lbw decision that was shown to be missing leg, but aside from his defensive purity, it was the quality of his strokeplay that stood out, in particular a laced drive through long-off that was little more than a push.His fifty came up from 98 balls with a flick for four off the pads against Steyn, and he had just passed 100 runs for the match when Steyn extracted his revenge, finding a perfect length outside off to draw a fatal nibble.Enter Babar, who lived dangerously in the opening moments of his innings, edging low through the slips to get off the mark before wearing a nasty lifter from Rabada on the body two balls later. But he drilled the final two balls of the session for four to sign off in style, and send a signal to South Africa that there’d be plenty more hard yakka to come in the evening session.And so it proved, although perhaps not in the manner anticipated. Shafiq continued to take on the short ball with aplomb to move to within touching distance of a richly deserved century, when the persevering Philander induced a decisive nick in the channel outside off, to send him on his way for 88 and leave Pakistan’s innings in the balance once again at 194 for 4.Fakhar, making his belated appearance at No. 6, was in no mood to restore that balance. His grim tour continued when he made an utter hash of a cross-batted mow at Rabada, who ran back in his follow through to complete a steepling catch, and when the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed was done in by Olivier – his lbw adjudged to be clipping the bails by roughly the same margin that Temba Bavuma’s had been missing in the first innings – Pakistan were 220 for 6 and freefalling.South Africa saw their opening, and went for it, with Mohammad Amir subjected to a fearful peppering – first from Olivier, who slammed him on the gloves two balls in a row, and then Steyn, who ripped a bouncer through his defences for de Kock to wrap up a savage five-ball duck. The same approach soon did for Yasir Shah too, the substitute Zubayr Hamza making a tough chance look easy at an old-school long-stop position on the boundary, but not before Babar had taken the attack back to his opponents, motoring to his half-century with four fours in an over off Olivier.He did not hold back after that, either. Another top-edge for four took Pakistan into the lead, and he managed four more boundaries – all full-blooded, not all middled – before chancing his arm once too often to give Rabada another breakthrough. From then on it was merely a race against time for South Africa to earn themselves an extra day on the golf course. Afridi’s defiance ensured one last moral victory for Pakistan but a series defeat was all but sealed.

Mooney, Lanning, Gardner, Brown, Jonassen put in crucial contributions as India fall just short

Firdose Moonda23-Feb-2023Australia have reached a seventh successive T20 World Cup final but not without an almighty fight from India, who came five runs short in a thrilling semi-final in Cape Town. The margin of defeat is four runs smaller than it was at the Commonwealth Games final last year, but that will be little consolation for India, who came agonisingly close while chasing 173.They were clumsy in the field, conceded at least 15 runs through overthrows and misfields and dropped two crucial catches – of Meg Lanning on 1 and Beth Mooney on 32 – and were equally nervy between the wickets. Two crucial run-outs dented their chase including that of Harmanpreet Kaur, which led to India’s slide.The India captain was ill on the eve of the match and briefly hospitalised with a fever but fronted up to lead her side and almost took them home. After a poor start which left India on 28 for 3 in the fourth over, Harmanpreet shared in a 69-run fourth-wicket stand with Jemimah Rodrigues and then brought up her first fifty of the tournament. She had barely celebrated it when her bat got stuck in the ground while sliding it for a second run and Alyssa Healy was quick to break the stumps, leaving India’s middle and lower order to get 40 runs off the last 32 balls.

Shafali Verma fumbles, then flounders, then finally holds on

Shafali Verma was responsible for the first misfield on a messy day for India, when she dived over the top of a Healy drive to allow what should have been a single turn into two in the first over. India let at least two more ones get doubled up on before they got their first wicket when Healy charged against Radha Yadav and was stumped to give them some joy.Radha should have had another in her next over when Mooney lofted a drive to Shafali at long-on. The ball came to her at waist height and should have been easily taken but she let it slip through her hands and bounce over the boundary. Mooney went on to hit three more fours before trying to cut a Shikha Pandey ball that was too close to her body and found Shafali again. She was stationed at point and made no mistake this time for the simple catch. She was clearly relieved and celebrated by banging the ball into the turf. Mooney was dismissed on 54, which meant Shafali’s miss cost India 22 runs.

Ashleigh Gardner’s late attack

After Healy and Mooney’s opening stand of 52, and Mooney and Lanning’s 36-run stand off 27 balls, Ashleigh Gardner arrived to put the finishing touches on an innings that was well set up. She found her first boundary with a clip off Sneh Rana in an over that cost 14 runs and then upped the ante for high-octane entry into the last five overs. Gardner slog swept Radha over midwicket, then lofted her between long-off and cover and then took back-to-back boundaries off Renuka Singh. She had plundered 28 runs off her first 14 balls and put Australia in a position to push for a total above 170. She was bowled by a Deepti Sharma yorker in the 18th over, and Australia still managed 30 runs in the last two overs to reach 172.Ashleigh Gardner’s cameo pushed Australia forward•ICC/Getty Images

Mayhem in the middle

India’s chase started in the worst possible way when Shafali was given out lbw as she missed a flick off Megan Schutt. She was hit above the knee roll and reviewed, with both height and the prospect of the ball missing leg stump on the cards, but was confirmed out on umpire’s call. Five balls later, a Gardner arm ball trapped Smriti Mandhana in her crease as she tried to defend and Australia reviewed on suspicion of pad first. They were right and India had lost their openers.But the worst came in the over after that when Yastika Bhatia, included in the side after last playing in India’s tournament opener, flicked Darcie Brown to Grace Harris at short midwicket and set off for a run even though Rodrigues didn’t move. By the time Bhatia turned to get back, Harris’ throw had already reached Healy, who had the time to run in and break the stumps. India were 28 for 3 in the fourth over.Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur took India close•AFP/Getty Images

Rodrigues rides the wave and Harmanpreet falls short

Rodrigues and Harmanpreet were not rattled by the early wickets and took charge of the innings for the next 6.4 overs. Harmanpreet showed few signs of being under the weather and Rodrigues displayed the confidence she showed against Pakistan. Harmanpreet struck India’s first six with a strong swing over long-on and Rodrigues turned it on with two gorgeous lofted off drives off Georgia Wareham. India were 93 for 3 after 10 overs, with the required run rate at eight an over and the pair were going smoothly.Rodrigues started the second half of the innings with another classic drive and then tried to get cute against a Brown short ball. She shaped up to ramp it over Healy’s head but got a thin edge and was caught behind to leave her captain to complete the chase. Harmanpreet got to her fifty off 32 balls and took India to within 40 runs of victory before she was run-out for the first time in nearly five years in T20Is, and India’s lower order couldn’t take them over the line.

India will have to choose between Samson and Hooda again as New Zealand look to extend their superb ODI record in Christchurch

Vishal Dikshit29-Nov-20223:23

Jaffer: Would be unfair to drop Hooda after a washout

Big picture

Just as it was in the T20Is, the ODIs have also effectively become a two-match series because of rain, except that New Zealand lead 1-0 now and India can at best square it. But rain is threatening to spoil the game, in Christchurch, too, even though there is a chance of a shortened game being squeezed out around the showers.Whether a full 50-50 game or a reduced one – like they attempted in the Hamilton ODI – the pressure will be on India. Not just because they are trailing, but also because they are are missing first-choice players and looked short of ideas while defending 306 in the series opener. India had only five bowling options then, and replaced Sanju Samson with Deepak Hooda to have the cushion of a sixth bowler in the following game, where rain allowed only 12.5 overs of play.

Watch India tour of New Zealand LIVE on Prime Video from Nov 18 to 30

New Zealand also have an enviable 10-1 win-loss record at Hagley Oval in ODIs, where teams chasing have won the last three ODIs. So, if India lose the toss for the third time in a row, they will have to score big. The question is if they have that firepower – and the mindset – in the current line-up.Like India, New Zealand are also building up to the 2023 ODI World Cup starting with this series. They are ranked No. 1, there’s no qualification worry for them on the Super League table, and they haven’t lost an ODI series at home since early 2019, when India had won 4-1.After the washout in Hamilton, New Zealand would be eager to give some more game time to Finn Allen and Michael Bracewell, who have played most of their ODI cricket against lower-ranked sides in the past. There is a fair bit of inexperience in their batting, too, with the exception of Kane Williamson and Tom Latham, and Devon Conway; so Allen and Glenn Phillips could use the opportunity to get some runs and make a mark ahead of the ODIs in Pakistan in January 2023.

Form guide

New Zealand WLLLW
India LWWLWIt’s a chance for Devon Conway and Finn Allen to make an impression before the Pakistan ODI series•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

Sanju Samson trends on social media as soon as he is left out of the XI, or each time he hits a crisp boundary, like he did a few times in the opening game during his 36 off 38. But he was then dropped for Deepak Hooda as India desperately needed a sixth bowler. Whoever plays on Wednesday will be under the spotlight; Samson to score runs to cement his spot in the middle order and Hooda to not only score but also contain the runs with the ball, and pick up a wicket or two with his part-time offspin.Michael Bracewell will be back where he returned 2 for 14 from four overs last month, in a T20I against Pakistan. He came in for Adam Milne in the second ODI, and if he gets another go in the last game, his lower-order batting could be handy for New Zealand, but his offspin will be tested by India’s batters on a pitch that assists strokeplay and fast bowlers.

Team news

There was hardly any game time in Hamilton, and New Zealand may not feel the need to change their XI unless they want to go back to playing four quicks, like they did in the Auckland ODI.New Zealand (probable): 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Michael Bracewell/Adam Milne, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Lockie FergusonWill India bring back Samson as a pure batting option, but Hooda is likely to play because of his bowling, which could be handy especially against left-hand batters Conway, Latham and Mitchell Santner. And will Kuldeep Yadav finally get a game? He was in both the T20I and ODI squads but hasn’t played on the tour yet, and is not even in the squad for the ODIs in Bangladesh next month.India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Sanju Samson/Deepak Hooda, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Umran Malik, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav1:55

Arshdeep: My aim in ODIs is the same as in T20s

Pitch and conditions

Showers have been forecast for Wednesday and if the game is shortened, the toss will become crucial, and bowling first will be the choice again. The tickets are sold out for only the second day-night men’s ODI at Hagley Oval, where the hard pitch is expected to help the quick bowlers and batters.

Stats and trivia